True Blessing - 2

Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." (Lk.11.27-28)

True blessing is related to hearing and obeying God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. The woman mentioned in our text was hearing the Lord Jesus as He spoke God's Word. She heard God Himself speak it! She had a priceless opportunity to learn about God because He was standing right there in front of her. Yet, for her, it seemed to be no more than an exciting experience. Therefore, Jesus corrects her and shows her the path to true blessing.

The Lord was not telling this woman anything new. The Psalmist had written about this long before anyone had heard Jesus speak. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies " (Ps. 119.1-2). "Blessed is the man...(whose) delight is in the law of the Lord" (Ps.1.1-3). The path to true blessing was revealed long ago and Jesus was simply repeating it to this woman.

This path is identified as hearing and obeying the Word of God. Many people heard the Lord Jesus teach when He was on the earth. He told them that the wise person would hear His words and live by them (Mt.7.24-27). However, after Jesus ascended to heaven, how could anyone "hear" Jesus words? The obvious answer is that His apostles were moved by the Holy Spirit to write them down. As with the prophets of the Old Testament, these men were directed by the Holy Spirit to write down the very words of Jesus, as well as to give an inspired explanation of what He did. Their writings are the final part of the whole "Word of God" that Jesus is talking about in these verses. Therefore, even though we are not able to hear the Lord Jesus teach, as this woman heard Him, we can "hear" His words, the Word of God, in the pages of the Bible. In “hearing and keeping” the words of the Bible we will find that God is faithful to bless us and enable us to obey Him.

For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to read and study the Bible on a regular basis. The purpose of this little blog is to help you do that. I believe that what God says is true. The path to true blessing is “hearing and observing” His Word, as the Lord Jesus said. Unless we are hearing and keeping His word daily, we will not know true blessing. We may have wonderful experiences of God’s love and forgiveness and be helped to do “great” things, but unless we are hearing and keeping God’s Word, then the blessings we receive will be few and far between. God may need to “bless” us with discipline (for example, hard situations or temptations we cannot overcome) to show us our real need of regular “hearing” Him in His Word. We can live like beggars at our Father’s door or we can live inside at the table He has spread before us in His Word. The choice is ours.

Do you want to be truly blessed?